It’s early in the morning, you were working late last night and you are busting ass to get a few final things done. You reach for your coffee and splash, you upend a full cup of hot hazelnut with cream and sugar on your client’s laptop. Sound familiar? Almost all of us have had computer hazards or have been on a team with someone who has. Be it coffee, coke, or urinal water (the pager went off while I was there and I kinda dropped it. On second thought, don’t ask…) chances are it has come into contact with some form of electronic equipment and the results are seldom in favor of technology. As a certified klutz, I’ve watered more than my share of expensive equipment and have learned several tricks to recover from these incidents.

I am a coffee addict. I can’t get started in the morning without a cup or two and a generally have a mug around at most times. Given this high concentration of Java (and my nature) it is inevitable that sooner or later coffee will end up on most everything that stays around me for long. This is a prime example of where a bit of work on prevention can save you hours or drying time later. First, invest in a quality mug. While the idea of scalding hot liquid separated from human flesh by a millimeter or so of insulating Styrofoam may be attractive to a certain segment of the population, it isn’t conducive to a solid, spill-preventive grip. Do not think that an el cheapo mug from some little shop will work either. Even though no one believes me, I swear that the handle just snapped off of my mug. Finally the best prevention is the purchase of an external keyboard. While it may be annoying when the keys sttartttt tttto sttttick, it’s much easier to replace than a laptop.

So, what do you do when the spillage occurs and your tall latte is now computer lubricant? Rule number one: STOP PLAYING QUAKE. I don’t care if you need one more frag to win the match, or if you have your PM lined up to take a rocket in the back. You game will certainly suffer if you have no machine to play on. (Oh and you may need the machine to do work at some point as well.) Now turn off the machine and take it a far apart as you can. You should have an impressive little collection of wet plastic and silicon resulting from this. At this point the best bet it to carry the whole dripping mess to the nearest sink and wash it. I know we’ve been trained not to get electronics wet. (Unless they are bright yellow, rubber coated, and say “sport”. Exactly why yellow things are inherently more durable then other colors I haven’t figured out yet, but I’m sure the Sony engineers have a reason.) But in this case water is better than Starbucks, and much less sticky. Now it’s time to dry. Arrange all the little wet bits on your desk and wait. This is the best part, you have a built-in reason to get nothing done! Go ahead and take a nap, read a book or go home. When you come back the machine should be dry and you can get back to work. Speaking of work, I need to get back to it. But first I’ll have a nice sip of this hot cof